Weight stigma doesn’t have to be malicious or targeted directly at a person to cause harm. Fat microaggressions lead to poorer health, well-being and life outcomes among fat people.
In Australia, Ozempic is only approved to treat diabetes but doctors are prescribing it ‘off label’ for weight loss. Compounding pharmacies have also been making their own versions to meet demand.
No one can escape stress, but sometimes it takes a physical and emotional toll that translates to disease and other health effects. The good news is that there are new approaches to treating it.
Since nutrition standards were strengthened in 2010, eating at school provides many students with healthier food than is available cheaply elsewhere. Plus, reducing stigma increases the number of kids getting fed.
Researchers gave people in the study 5, 10 or 15ml doses of apple cider vinegar and found they lost more weight than those taking a placebo. But the findings need a closer look.
It’ll take more than the removal of ‘no ball games’ signs to get children moving. The real barriers to children’s participation in sport are structural: racism, misogyny and classism.
The demand for off-label weight loss drugs like Ozempic is concerning, because of the impact on weight stigma and the health risks of unsupervised weight loss, including developing eating disorders.
The first-ever imaging and recording of a brainstem structure critical for feeling full could help reveal exactly how weight loss drugs like Ozempic work, and how to make them more effective.
Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand